The 2009 Quail Motorsports Gathering was held Friday, August 14th at the Quail Lodge Resort and Golf Club in Carmel, California.
The seventh annual Quail event paid tribute to 50 years of racing at the Daytona International Speedway, home to the Daytona 500. It also celebrated the 30th anniversary of the BMW M1, the first modified production auto and honored racing icon Hans Joachim Stuck. Once again sold-out, the Quail impressed its 3,000 lucky guests with a great collection of rare sports and racing automobiles and motorcycles.
Of the vintage cars on display, one automobile received top honors as the Rolex Best of Show: the 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B owned by Bob Lee. This coveted award, given at the Rolex Circle of Champions Awards Ceremony, called on all entrants to vote on the vehicle that has achieved what they believe to be the best representation of historic excellence.
Other highlights included the first North American public unveiling of the Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo, the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni, Aston Martins newest DBS Volante convertible and Confederate Motors latest design, the P120 Fighter Combat. Guests also enjoyed the traditional Historics to The Quail Run, featuring 25 of the most celebrated sports racing cars, an aerobatic air show and access to the Bonhams & Butterfields auction.
“We are proud to be recognized as one of the most sought after events during Monterey’s Classic Cars Week,” said Sarah Cruse, general manager of Quail Lodge. “Our team has excelled in creating an exclusive day-long celebration where automotive collectors and connoisseurs have an unmatched opportunity to compare the aesthetics and engineering of the worlds most extraordinary driving machines in a picturesque garden-party setting.”
The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering concluded this year, as in the previous years, with the Rolex Circle of Champion Awards. In this anticipated award ceremony, entrants were summoned to subjectively choose the vehicles that they believe have achieved their design goal, performance expectations and overall impact on automotive history.
2009 Quail Rolex Circle of Champion Award Winners (Photo credit: Robert Kerian)
Additional 2009 Quail Motorsports Gathering Winners Include:
Post-War Sports Cars – 1953 Fiat 8V Supersonic owned by David Sydorick
Tribute to Hans-Joachim Stuck – 1974 BMW 3.0 CSL owned by Mark Leonardo
The Great Ferraris – 1951 Ferrari 212E owned by Skeets Dunn
Post-War Racing Car Award – Porsche 550 Spyder owned by Cheryl and Peter Dunkle
2009 Quail Motorsports Gathering Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture)
A portion of the proceeds raised will benefit local and national charities aiding children and families including The California Highway Patrol 11-99 Foundation, The American Red Cross, Carmel Area Chapter, Rancho Cielo, CASA of Monterey County (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and Friends of the Carmel Unified Schools (FOCUS).
The 2010 Quail Motorsports Gathering will take place on Friday, August 13th. For more information, visit www.quaillodge.com.
[Source: Quail Lodge; Photo credit: Robert Kerian]
That Maserati 350S has everything a mid fifties Italian sports racing car should have. Boy it is hard to imagine a more beautiful brutish car unless it’s a 450S. Or is this a 450S with no hood bulge and low exhaust pipes?Nice images.
It was a great event as always. The Maser was to die for.
Great article and photos. Would have loved to have been there.
I haven’t seen that GTO in so long. I worked on it and got to drive it in 1978. To sit in the same seat that had once been occupied by Pedro Rodriguez and Phil Hill was the ultimate thrill for a gear head college boy! It is actually a 1964 model, by the way.
Thanks for sharing Kevin. That is a little different than our college experience…and probably everyone else out there. Ultimate thrill indeed!
Is this the same Maser 300S that I saw a few years ago, in a massive garage at 1007 South Elmora Avenue in Elizabeth, NJ, being maintained by master mechanic Onofrio Triarsi? I don’t know if it is, but I can only say that I was completely overwhelmed by the raw aggressiveness of that sports racing car.
It should have taken the world by storm, if only Officine Alfieri Maserati had had more financial backing to do so.
I believe that Maserati 300S-SN3083 is the same car that Edwin P. Lawrence drove at Sebring in 1959.
The car went off the road during practice before the race in the hairpin turn flipping 5 times end over end then catching fire and taking Ed’s life. That would have been his first big race ever. Some how this car made it back to Italy and was restored. The last I knew the owner lives in Berkeley California.
I still have a couple of pics I took during the 1964 Daytona 2000 of this same winning #30 GTO 250 driven by Hill and Rodriquez, one closeup in profile coming out of the hairpin, and another distance shot as it passes a TR4 on the banked track.